This and other storms are hitting on New Years’ Eve morning when everybody is sleeping in and has the day off. I doubt many people got the warnings in time when the storms first started in western Oklahoma and eastern Arkansas/Missouri.

Here is a SRM of the storms from earlier this morning, the more northern and stronger couplet is the one with the reported fatalities:

I would not be surprised to see an upgrade in the severe weather outlook from the SPC in their 1630z update today. This system is definitely more potent than what was originally anticipated. There is currently a tornado watch in effect for most of AR and MO, which extends into far western IL. Severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings are ongoing in AR and MO.